He said: “Carbon saw a little strength after the European Parliament voted through the back-loading proposal. For coal, an increase in demand in the US has reduced exports from the country and German demand has also increased.”

Power demand was “quite high” during the week with npower forecasting two potential “triads”, said Mr Blay.

Triads are the three highest half-hour periods of demand on the electricity system between November and February each year. National Grid uses these to work out how much it charges suppliers for upgrading the electricity grid.

Oil prices dropped over the week, partly because of the situation in Libya but this didn’t last long.

The analyst said: “Brent crude posted losses of over $3 per barrel to finish the week at $108 per barrel. Restricted exports from Libya has been lending significant support to the commodity of late and so the prospect of three ports reopening at the weekend eased prices.

“This however did not come to fruition so oil prices bounced back on Monday.”

Looking ahead, the Libyan situation will continue to lend “strong direction” to Brent prices, he said: “With exports at 250,000 bpd which is down from 1.4 million in July, any improvement could add significant pressure.”